Essendon coach Mark Thompson lauds Sydney Swans midfield aces

Adam Pengilly

Mark Thompson reckons Sydney's ball magnets more than masked Lance Franklin's absence, but John Longmire's midfield stocks are about to be replenished further with Dan Hannebery nearing a return for the Swans.

All Australian Hannebery, sidelined with a syndesmosis injury, is tipped to mount a strong case for selection when the ladder-leading Swans travel to Adelaide to take on fellow top two hopefuls Port Adelaide next weekend.

Stars in the middle: Swans midfielder Luke Parker in action during the win over the Bombers. Photo: Getty Images

It comes hot on the heels of Rhyce Shaw's return in the Swans' 22-point win over Essendon at the SCG on Friday night, achieved in blustery conditions minus Lance Franklin, who withdrew on Friday morning with minor tendonitis in his knee.

Longmire said Hannebery was nearing a comeback as the Swans' all-star midfield of Luke Parker, Josh Kennedy, Kieren Jack and Jarrad McVeigh found plenty of footy against Essendon.

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"He's a real chance," Longmire said. "He trained [Friday] and trained really well and he'll train again on Sunday.

"He was 95 per cent [on Friday] running and skills and looked good. He'll do even more on Sunday. He's no certainty at this stage, but we'll wait and see what he does at training with the tackling and pressure drills. He's coming along pretty well at the moment."

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The Swans relied on eight different goalkickers to thwart a plucky Essendon – who clawed their way back to within 10 points in the third term – to make up for Franklin's loss.

But Longmire said he was expecting Sydney's $10 million man to make a return against Port Adelaide.

"At this stage he should be all right," Longmire said.

"He's a pretty good judge of when he can play and when he can't. He's been able to play with a sore knee and contribute really well during the course of the year so when he said this morning it was too sore to play you knew that was the case."

Lewis Jetta (cork) and Sam Reid (hip) struggled at times against Essendon, but managed to contribute to the gutsy win.

Thompson said Brownlow Medallist Jobe Watson and Michael Hibberd were nearing their own returns for the Bombers, who play teams ranked 10th through 13th in their final four games of the season.

He challenged his often timid side to be more ambitious in possession as they seek to shore up a finals spot against Richmond on Friday night.

"We almost get to the point where we say, 'boys, you need to do this, look where the game is'," Thompson said.

"They almost get forced into taking a risk and when they do they can play. We got back into the game and played some really good footy. You can't just do it for a quarter or a quarter-or-a-half ... you've got to do it for most of the game.

"This game is so much about confidence and when it leaves your body or your mind it's really hard to get back. Sometimes those nights can go really bad and they have for Essendon, so we were pleased it didn't."